protective

US /pɹəˈtɛk.tɪv/ UK /pɹəˈtɛk.tɪv/ See IPA manual

Freq #6530

Meanings

1

adj
Designed or intended to keep someone or something safe.

Workers must wear protective clothing on the site.
2

adj
Wanting to keep someone safe; caring strongly about protecting someone.

Mother bears are famously protective of their cubs.

Thesaurus

Word family

Derived forms atheroprotectiveautoprotectiveaxoprotectivebioprotectivebronchoprotectivecanceroprotectivecarcinoprotectivecardioprotectivecarioprotectivecerebroprotectivechemoprotectivecholangioprotective

Appears in

Phrases (2)

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Etymology

Etymology tree Medieval Latin prōtēctīvusbor. English protective Borrowed from Medieval Latin prōtēctīvus. By surface analysis, protect + ive.

prōtēctīvus la-med

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# protective

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /pɹəˈtɛk.tɪv/
**IPA (UK):** /pɹəˈtɛk.tɪv/
**Frequency rank:** 6530

## Meanings
1. Designed or intended to keep someone or something safe.
2. Wanting to keep someone safe; caring strongly about protecting someone.

## Examples
- Workers must wear protective clothing on the site.
- Mother bears are famously protective of their cubs.

## Derived Forms
- atheroprotective
- autoprotective
- axoprotective
- bioprotective
- bronchoprotective
- canceroprotective
- carcinoprotective
- cardioprotective
- carioprotective
- cerebroprotective
- chemoprotective
- cholangioprotective

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: prōtēctīvus

## Etymology
Etymology tree Medieval Latin prōtēctīvusbor. English protective Borrowed from Medieval Latin prōtēctīvus. By surface analysis, protect + ive.

## AI Etymology
Protective was borrowed from Medieval Latin prōtēctīvus. By surface analysis, protect + ive. The historical chain includes prōtēctīvus (la-med). In present-day English it covers designed or intended to keep someone or something safe and wanting to keep someone safe; caring strongly about protecting someone. The wider family includes derived forms such as atheroprotective, autoprotective, axoprotective, bioprotective, bronchoprotective.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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